In this episode, Ollie Torr is joined by Aidan Roberts, Andy Cave, Maddy Cope, Tom Herbert, and Dr. Ed Gibson-Smith to explore one of the most debated supplements in climbing—creatine. Does it actually help climbers perform better, or is it just another fitness industry fad?

The panel breaks down the science and real-world applications of creatine, tackling common questions and misconceptions. Who benefits most? Does it improve power and endurance, or could it even hinder performance? How do diet and training style affect its effectiveness? And what about the infamous "flash pump"—is it a genuine concern or just gym bro nonsense?

Ollie even puts creatine to the test himself:
🗣 “Before this podcast, I was taking 5g of creatine every day… now I’m taking none. Here’s why.”

Key Takeaways:

• Power vs. Endurance: How creatine impacts different climbing styles.
• Recovery & Performance: Does it actually speed up recovery and help you send harder?
• Creatine & Weight Gain: Busting myths about ‘bulking up’ in climbing.
• Flash Pump Debate: Real concern or exaggerated worry?
• Diet & Absorption: Does your diet affect how well creatine works?

Join us for a science-backed discussion on whether creatine is a must-have for climbers or just extra weight in your pack.

👉 Tune in now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!

Edward Gibson-Smith's Data 👉  https://latticetraining.com/blog/creatine-podcast-supporting-visuals-by-dr-ed-gibson-smith/

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode, Ollie Torr sits down with world-class climber Will Bosi, fresh off his impressive ascent of Excalibur (9b+). Will delves into the intricacies of his multi-year journey with the route, sharing insights into the beta refinements and the patience required to conquer one of the world's most challenging climbs. They discuss the significance of micro-beta adjustments, the balance between power and endurance, and the mental fortitude needed to tackle such formidable projects.

Beyond Excalibur, Will reflects on his broader climbing journey, including his transition from competition climbing to outdoor pursuits. He shares experiences from notable ascents such as La Capella (9b) and his first ascent of King Capella (9b+) in Siurana, Spain. The conversation also touches on his groundbreaking repeats of some of the world's hardest boulder problems, including Burden of Dreams (V17) and Return of the Sleepwalker (V17), highlighting his versatility and dedication across climbing disciplines.

Key Takeaways:

• Beta Breakthroughs: Discover how micro-adjustments in positioning and technique can unlock new levels of performance.
• Balancing Power & Endurance: Learn about the unique challenges presented by short, intense routes and how to train for them.
• Managing Conditions & Patience: Understand the importance of adapting to environmental factors and maintaining patience throughout long-term projects.
• Transitioning from Competition to Outdoor Climbing: Gain insights into Will's journey from the competition circuit to achieving remarkable feats on natural rock.
• Future Aspirations: Hear about Will's upcoming projects, including potential trips to Flatanger to explore routes like Silence (9c) and his ambitions within the UK climbing scene.

👉 Don't miss this in-depth conversation with one of the world's leading climbers. Tune in now to gain valuable insights into the mindset, training, and perseverance behind some of the most challenging ascents in climbing history. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today's Lattice Podcast, host Maddy Cope sits down with Sarah Duvall to explore the critical need for improved postpartum care, protocols, support, and education for women. Together, they uncover the significant gaps in research and recovery protocols for postpartum women compared to other injuries.

Key Topics Include:

• Sarah’s Climbing Comeback: Sarah shares her personal journey of returning to climbing after pregnancy, highlighting the challenges she faced and valuable lessons learned.
• Core & Pelvic Floor Strength: Why prioritising core and pelvic floor strength is essential for postpartum recovery.
• Addressing Pubic Symphysis Pain: A discussion on common issues like pubic symphysis pain and the importance of addressing muscle imbalances before and during pregnancy.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Welcome to part 2 of this interview with the climbing legend Dave MacLeod. This week Lattice coach Maddy delved even deeper into Dave's climbing and training approach, by diving straight into chatting about his famous nutrition experiments and approaches to balancing a keto diet with his own training and climbing.
 
 We also hear more about Dave's personal standpoints on nutrition and the mental aspects related to dieting, particularly in the climbing world.
 
 As providers of nutrition services and information to the climbing community, we know all too well about the risks and the strong feelings that can be attached to dieting*, especially alongside high intensity training, so this is also covered in this interview.
 
Don't forget to catch up on Part 1, where Dave and Maddy discussed;

📌Dave's approach to training and climbing
📌How he applies his understanding of science to his practice
📌How the mental side of climbing evolved for him
📌His process on hard climbs and headpoints
📌The consideration of specificity in training for climbing goals
📌Stepping things up to 9a+ 🔥

*Please note that nutrition is highly individual and if you are struggling with disordered eating you should seek the help of a qualified professional.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In the Lattice Training podcast today we have another guest from the arm lifting world whose long term track record of training, competing and record breaking accomplishments is rarely rivalled across the grip strength sports. It’s rare that we get to interview someone who’s really been focusing on something so specific to climbing performance - AKA grip strength - for over 20 yrs. 

Eric Roussin, is from Canada and has a long history of competitive arm wrestling, having started as a teenager in 1996 and has been competing in Grip Sports for just over 10 yrs. He won the Canadian overall National Title 5yrs in a row and also a gold medal in the World Arm Lifting Championships on the Rolling Thunder and has the world record on Napalms Nightmare and 2 arm thick bar lift.  

Interestingly, Eric is a blend of competitor and historian so he’s got an incredible knowledge of what’s developed over time and an understanding of training and performance methodology, which at Lattice, we’re always interested to learn more about! 

Check out in the show notes at the bottom, some really useful links provided by Eric, who kindly provided us all with some signposting to learn more on this front. 

In today’s episode we covered:

1. What got Eric into arm wrestling originally and his formative years of training.
2. What he thinks about grip or hand strength in arm lifting and the repercussions for training methodology or approach. 
3. His thoughts on the differences between arm lifting and arm wrestling.
4. How he trains for grip lifting, rather than grip pulling or hanging.
5. Whether he does any cross-training.
6. How important he thinks strength in the entire kinetic chain is. Are there any common “weak” links he sees?
7. What does the grip sports community think of fingerboarding.
8. What are the King Kong Grip Challenges. 

David Horne - site: http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/index.html

David Horne Basic training routine video: https://youtu.be/FGuVJAj96SE 

Grip Board (the world’s most popular grip strength related forum): www.gripboard.com (event King Kong details can be found in the Grip Contests section)

Popular facebook page for all things grip: https://www.facebook.com/groups/330749460395996 Eric’s websites: www.canadagripsport.com & www.thearmwrestlingarchives.com

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Settle down and get comfy because Dave MacLeod is in the house and you are going to want to hear this one! We were recently lucky enough to have Dave MacLeod come down to the Lattice Training HQ and dive into all things climbing and training!

In this podcast Dave and Lattice coach Maddy Cope sat down and had a good old chat! 

Tune in to find out more about;

📌Dave's approach to training and climbing

📌How he applies his understanding of science to his practice

📌How the mental side of climbing evolved for him

📌His process on hard climbs and headpoints 

📌The consideration of specificity in training for climbing goals 

📌Stepping things up to 9a+ 

This interview covers many things in between these topics, so be sure to tune in for so much more - plus we've also split into two parts, so keep an eye out next week for part 2.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Today we have a true legend of finger strength - the one and only Yves Gravelle. He has some of the strongest fingers in the world, pound for pound and has demonstrated this in both the climbing and arm lifting world, whilst also holding down a full time job and the added role of parenting on top of that. 

In terms of his climbing, Yves is an International comp athlete, having represented Canada for a number of years, he’s bouldered V15 and repeated and established multiple problems in the double digit range. For Arm Lifting, he is 3 x APL World Champ, the lightest person the lift the Thomas inch dumbbell and has a PB of 105kg on the Rolling Thunder.

If you’re someone who’s interested in the opinion, practices and methods of an athlete at the top 0.0001% of their game, when it comes to building strong fingers, then listen in hard!

In this episode we cover the following topics:

1. Yves's classic feats of strength.
2. His early climbing years.
3. The tools in the last 20 yrs that he's felt were most effective.
4. How often he trains grip strength. 
5. How he balances that with normal climbing.
6. What has been the role of arm lifting and when he got into it.
7. Are arm lifters doing anything different to climbers?
8. Hang vs lift tools for finger strength training.
9. How he 'transfers' his training strength across into climbing.
10. His balance of low intensity and high volume training.
11. How he trains with limited time and resources. 
12. His tips for climbers getting into their first season of arm lift training.

Yves' Sponsors: Bloc shop, Kailas, Tembo, Digit Climbing, Xcult USA, Coyote rock gym

His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/yvesgravelle/videos

His Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yvesgravelle/?hl=en

I’m from Ottawa, Canada

Been climbing for 22 years. 

Ex Canadian National Bouldering team member. 7-8 time???

3 x arm lifting World Champion (APL federation)

8C boulder

Multiple World records and class world records order  in the sport of Armlifting. 

Feats Highlight 

- lightest person the lift the Thomas inch dumbbell

- 6mm one arm pull-up and deadhang

- lattice test edge + 32kg

- 105kg on the rolling thunder

- 1-5-9 with construction gloves 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Tom Randall is back with another solo podcast session, following on from the recent "Common Mistake in Endurance Training" that was very popular. Like the previous format, he explores the big issues that climbers will typically have when training or preparing their power endurance.

In part 1, he breaks down the critical factor of 'specificity' and why you need to address it on the three fronts of technical, psychological and physical preparation. Ignoring, or wrongly addressing almost any of these elements will significantly impact both the effect of your training and the performance outcomes. Get them right though, as you're talking about huge steps towards success!

Technical:

1. Rock types and associated movement patterns.
2. Specific move types and efficiency within them.
3. Learning how to climb fast AND slow at your project/goal grade

Psychological:

1. Accessing your 'try hard' zone with correct focus and frequency
2. Learning to relax to the demands of the goal and not 'wasting' energy.
3. Training to rest appropriate for your project.
4. Chalking up ratios
5. Terrain recognition and environmental stress/familiarity
6. Fears of heights, exposure and falling

Physical:

1. Pacing for contraction and relaxation ratios.
2. Hold size and types relative to muscle activation and soft tissue demands.
3. Specificity of project demands on ancillary muscle groups such as core, back and legs.
4. Skin and pain conditioning
5. Respecting the specificity of volume, intensity and 'section' interval frequency when training

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Today’s guest is one of the best climbers in the world right now. He’s redpointed 3 9b+’s and 7 9b’s, and won multiple IFSC world cups. Yes, it is the one and only Stefano Ghisolfi! The journey that this athlete has taken in the sport is a remarkable one, not simply because his incredible grades, but because he has so many relatable actions that many of us can also deploy in our own climbing pathway. Sure, we may not all reach 9b+ or Olympic selections in our life, but at our own personal level there are strategies that pay off ... big time. 

Those key strategies discussed come down to:

1. Playing to your strengths and understanding how you can work on your long term (changeable) weaknesses.
2. Building a solid grade pyramid of performance, experience and skill. 
3. Appropriate methods for making a change in performance metrics. What strategies actually work for the thing you're trying to alter. 
4. Working on your fear and mindset in a performance setting.

Around these topics, we discussed - amongst other things:

1. His first competition at 14 and how only 3 years later he’d got a podium and also competed in the Senior world champs and placed 10th in combined. 
2. What his early journey in climbing looked like. How quickly did he go through the grades?
3. His first 9b Lapsus. 
4. His views on repeating some of the world’s hardest routes like Change, Bibliographie, Perfecto Mundo. How important is this process/goal?
5. His repeat of Bibliography and proposed 9b+ grade vs 9c.  
6. How much bouldering does he do compared to sport climbing? Does it change at different times of the year?
7. How does he fit in fingerboard work and other forms of more 'basic' S&C?
8. His fear of heights, falling and exposure. 
9. How does he identify what he wants to work on each season?

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

This episode's guest is professional climber and competition athlete Staša Gejo, who's track record is rarely matched. She has stood in every single position - gold, silver and bronze - across a variety of competitions from World Games, World Champs, European Champs and World Cups, climbed V13 and puts out consistent content on her social channels and YouTube channel which shares her thoughts and journey in climbing. 

Her top level track record extends way back from 2015 where as a junior competitor she won the World Junior Champs in bouldering and combined, so there is a big depth of experience and expertise here. What’s so cool about Staša is that not only is she operating at the top end, she's also really good at communicating her thoughts about her journey in the sport. The ups and downs and also what works well when it comes to performance - especially around some recent dialogue on the topic of weight.

We talked about:

1. Her experiences with weight control and early journey as a comp athlete.
2. The repercussions of a calorie controlled diet at 1200/day. 
3. How does her healthy weight management look these days.
4. What does her indoor vs outdoor training and performance habit look like.
5. Her thoughts on mixing forms and disciplines for performance and training. 
6. What does her specific finger strength work look like.
7. How much strength work she finds optimal per week. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

On today's show we have Kejt Najman, who sits in the 'sweet spot' of training knowledge as she's both a coach and internationally acclaimed athlete. She was World Weighted Pull Up Champion in 2019 & 2022, Polish Champion four years running, has bouldered 7C and sport climbed 7c (before concentrating on her competitions in recent years) and also works as a strength and conditioning coach for climbers.

At Lattice we greatly value those who have a blend of sports science and practical knowledge - it's the area where 'science' meets 'art' and 'subjectivity' in training. In another knowledge packed episode Tom explores Kejt's methods and experiences in upper body strength training, how she works on herself as an athlete and also her approach to her own clients.

1. Kejt's original journey as an athlete - couldn't do a single pull up initially!

2. How much she trained in the earlier years and what methods she used.

3. Her approach to 'push' vs 'pull' gym work.

4. Low specificity vs high specificity training.

5. Kejt's experiences as an elite plant-based athlete.

6. Her next steps and thoughts on training as a 40 year old athlete.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Part 2 of '10 Things That Matter More Than You Think'

Climbing performance is fairly complex because there's so many moving parts to the equation and many of the skills take years, if not decades, to perfect. Fortunately, Tom Randall is on the podcast in this episode to give you another 'solo' session on what things really make a difference in climbing your best. 

In this second part, he dives into a variety of factors that probably don't get enough discussion, but make a massive difference to your climbing. Get over half of these items ticked off and perfected, and you'll probably see 1-2 grades of climbing improvement at your projecting level in a single season. 

1. Hip position
2. Ladders and dogging tactics
3. One Last Go
4. Power training
5. Supportive partners

• HIPS: How close, how far left or right and how much you throw them. Get strong in the entire ROM

• TACTICS: Ladders, ab ropes and spotter shoulders for feeling holds, starting higher up, dogging with clip stick, clipping in tight, get a power pulls and many more...

• ONE LAST GO: Sticking around, trying even when you’ve given up, learning your mind-body connection when you’re at your limit, trying to be the last person to have a go every session
  . 
• POWER TRAINING: Execution of strength/force with speed, efficient movement that’s sport specific, power training in 'peak' cycles, trying projects that you can’t do statically

• SUPPORTIVE PARTNERS: The 'fun' factor, verbal and video feedback, accountability, absorbing your partner's practices. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In the words of one of Grip Sport's legends, Eric Roussin, the relative newcomer of Tanner Merkle has seriously ruffled some feathers in the Arm Lifting World. Three years running International King Kong Champion and outright holder of the Captains of Crush Silver Bullet Record, his incredible grip strength showed immediately. 

Unusually for an elite arm lifter, he was previously a top level US competition climber (2nd at US Boulder Nationals). Tanner transitioned away from high climbing to really explore his gift and passion for grip strength, which clearly set him apart in both climbing and grip sports. 

Tom sits down with Tanner to explore his early days in climbing, how he transitioned his training through the two sports and where he feels there's transfer and knowledge to be applied across both of the disciplines. This episode is the first a number of interviews we're doing with world famous grip strength athletes, diving into the methods, knowledge and strategies they've evolved over their own journeys to the top. 

We talk (amongst other things) about:

1. What exactly are Grip Sports and Arm Lifting.
2. What is different about the tools used in this sport compared to climbing?
3. How Tanner transitioned from climbing to Grip Sports. 
4. How to train for Arm Lifting vs pulling or hanging in climbing.
5. His CoC Silver Bullet record. 
6. How he trained for specific records.
7. His thoughts on Cross Training
8. How he tackles training "the entire kinetic chain" in Arm Lifting
9. Issues around weight, mass and how it relates to Grip Sports vs Climbing. 

The beat is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today's Lattice Podcast highlight, host Tom Randall sits down with legendary climber Steve McClure to delve into injury prevention and the nuances of climbing as we age. Life gets more complicated as you get older, but finding inspiration from motivated and strong friends can make a world of difference.

Highlights from this Discussion Include:

• Life and Climbing: How increasing life complexities make it harder to push climbing limits as we age.
• Motivation from Peers: The crucial role of being surrounded by motivated and strong friends for ongoing inspiration.
• Ageing and Genetics: Understanding the impact of genetics and self-care on ageing climbers.
• Maintaining Muscle Mass: The importance of maintaining upper body muscle mass with age.
• Endurance and Power Endurance: How these aspects can still be improved, despite potential declines in finger strength.
• Flexibility Changes: Noting how flexibility evolves, with the lower body often retaining better range of motion than the upper body.
• Motivation and Enjoyment:Emphasizing the importance of motivation and the joy of climbing in maintaining progress over time.

This episode is just a thirty minute highlight from a more in-depth conversation covering additional insights on balancing life and climbing as we age. For the full discussion, tune in to the complete episode available on all major podcast platforms. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Climbing performance is fairly complex because there's so many moving parts to the equation and many of the skills take years, if not decades, to perfect. Fortunately, Tom Randall is on the podcast in this episode to give you another 'solo' session on what things really make a difference in climbing your best.

In this 2 parter, he dives into a variety of factors that probably don't get enough discussion, but make a massive difference to your climbing. Get over half of these items ticked off and perfected, and you'll probably see 1-2 grades of climbing improvement at your projecting level in a single season.

Obviously, if you're already at a Dave Graham level of obsession and strategy, then this can act as a list to give yourself a big pat on the back as you'll find that he and all the rest of the pros are seriously paying attention to these factors. They are not to be taken lightly! 

1. Shoe choice
2. Skin quality
3. Humidity and wind speed
4. FULL warm up
5. Visualisation

• SHOES: Heels, toes, downturn, rubber, tightness, stiffness

• SKIN: How dry, how thick, cuticle pain, smoothness

• HUMIDITY & WIND: Friction and grip effect, humidity limits, glassy skin, cold vs wind. 

• FULL WARM UP: Fingers, core (esp posterior chain), flexibility, power, knowing the demands on your goal

• VISUALISATION: Timescales and frequency of visualisation, how long can you sustain a visualised sequence, internal vs external, hyper-detail 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode we take a dive into the history of climbing training and performance with Peter Beal. With over five decades of climbing and training experience under his belt, we thought there was no better person to talk about what has occurred in the training side of the sport since the 70s and how this has impacted performance at the top end. 

Peter has been climbing hard since 1977, with a specific focus on bouldering which is unusual given the decade in which he started - it was hardly recognised as its own 'thing' at the time! With ascents up to V12, he is also a contributor across publications like Rock & Ice, UKC, The Alpinist and  also the author of the book - Bouldering: Movement, Tactics and Problem Solving.

Peter is a training and performance focused guy, having trained methodically for going on 40 yrs and also operates as a climbing coach for local climbers in Colorado operating right up to the elite end of the scale for just over 20yrs. For all the above mentioned history and background, I thought this would be the perfect person to have on the show to talk about how climbing and performance has changed over the last 5 decades.

Peter Beal Instagram
Peter Beal's local (amazing!) gym:

1970s

• Jim Holloway - front levers and gymnastic strength training feats. Ascents of V12-13! 
• Pete Livesey and training at Leeds wall, raising the standard in leading from E2-E6
• Tony Yaniro - FA of Grand Illusion 8a/+ in 1979

1980s

• Enter John Bachar! 2 arm pull ups at +63kg and 1 arm pull up +5.5kg
• Moffatt, Bachar etc, all possibly started with the first bit of fingerboard training
• 1984 C’était Demain V11 – Fontainebleau, by Godoffe 
• 1988 - The campus board & Wolfgang Güllich 

1990s

• 1990 Hubble - 8c+ but maybe the world’s first 9a?
• Action Directe 9a 1991
• The Sheffield Schoolroom -  built in 1993 by Gavin Ellis, Ben Tye and Andy Coish
• Replicas, system board climbing, systematic endurance training, campus boards, and early fingerboarding all find their ground.
• 1996 - Open Air by Huber as the first 9a+ (upgraded later from 9a)

2000s

• 2000-2002 for long and shorter V15s (Hollow Mountain Cave and Monkey Wedding)
• 2008 - 9b Jumbo Love
• Indoor Walls really start to have an international impact en masse. 

2010s

• 2012-2013 3 x 9b+ all by Adam Ondra!! 
• Early 2010-2015 massive explosion in indoor bouldering
• 2016 - Burden of Dreams V17 – by Nalle Hukkataival 
• 2017 - Silence 9c by Ondra
• The Moonboard, Kilterboard and Tension Board go big. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Last year, we had a parenting-focused interview on the show with Caro Ciavaldini joining Mina (who's also recently a new mum!) for a discussion about climbing and training post pregnancy. We had some great feedback from you guys on the content, which also included a request to do a "dad" version of the interview....

So here it is folks. You asked and we will always try to deliver! Two Lattice dads - Tom Randall and coach Jon Procter sit down to chat about their own experiences since having children. Never ones to sugar coat, Tom and Jon share their ups and downs and some of the strategies they've used to maintain a path of progress and performance in climbing. 

Key topics discussed:

• Tom and Jon's parental set up.
• The early days of changing lifestyle and how this affected training and performance.
• Methods for managing time and energy with less sleep or less "free" time in the week. 
• Split sessions for training and climbing.
• Training Mesocycle lengths and format
• Home training set ups. 
• Differences in endurance vs strength training as a parent. 

You can find Mina and Caro's interview here if you're interested in that one too! 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this podcast Maddy sits down with coach Josh, who is our in-house flexibility specialist. Josh has invested his time in both understanding the science of flexibility but also putting it  into practice. His development of our flexibility plans has greatly impacted the work we do with clients and as a bonus point, has just about resulted in him reaching his goal of side splits!

• How to take a practical approach to flexibility training
• Understanding your biomechanics to get the stretches right for your level
• The importance of strength through ranges of motion.
• His approach to the “how” of flexibility training. This is so important for pushing the training (yes, flexibility training should feel challenging!), keeping motivated and monitoring progress. 

Topics discussed:

1) Why flexibility is important and how it plays into performance in climbing 

2) What is the process you go through when it comes to improving flexibility? 

3) The concept of leverage and how we can use gravity to provide the right challenge level.

4) How muscles and joints don't work in isolation, and therefore how we can best facilitate our stretching in certain positions.

5) Length before strength. Session ordering for improving flexibility and strength through a large range of movement.

6) As with many exercises the "how" is important when we train flexibility. Josh talks about setting tasks in flexibility training.

7) ‘Feeling’ before ‘form.’ What should the main focus be?

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Whilst we often concentrate specifically on the physical aspects of training and performance, we also have a real passion for psychology and how it relates to climbing. In this episode, I we have a psychology specialist - PhD student and researcher Allegra Maguire, who specialises in applied decision making.

Allegra went from 6a to 7a+ in a single year in climbing and has a practical interest in applying her psychology expertise into the climbing arena itself. In this podcast Tom and Allegra discuss the topic of “mental toughness” and how it applies to sport training and performance. 

1. What is mental toughness.
2. How does this differ from resilience?
3. The 4 Cs model of mental toughness. 
4. Mental toughness as a predictor of performance
5. The state/trait debate, including definitions
6. Interventions and practical examples

• Environmental influences
• Challenge management
• Social support
• Reflection training

Allegra's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh_uKaHT6EWvyZG55rhYK3Q

Instagram: @climbin.psychology @allegra_maguire  

Mindfulness: https://www.headspace.com/

MT test: https://mentaltraininginc.com/services/mental-toughness-test

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Part 2 of the "Endurance Mistakes" of Climbing Training! 

Endurance training is a foundational element of performance preparation or training for almost every athlete, no matter what their discipline. Boulderers, sport climbers and trad climbers should all be completing phases of endurance training during their year. What is also common across these disciplines, is a consistent set of mistakes that climbers typically make when completing this type of training. 

In part two of this podcast, Tom Randall talks about the "Style" aspect of endurance work which encompasses both grip types and terrain angle. Both of these factors in your endurance training will affect the outcomes in technical, psychological and physical performance or adaptation. 

Main grip types you want to consider:

Micro edges (less than 10mm)
Mid-sized edge (20-30mm)
Pinches 
Slopers, big open holds
Pockets

Main terrain angles to train on:

Slab
Vertical
Steep up to 30 degrees
Steep 30-60 degrees
Roof

Technical outcomes:

1. Lack of skill or technique in using particular grip types. Finger, hand and wrist positioning as well as body position especially with things like slopers etc. 
2. Lack of movement efficiency appropriate to the terrain angle. Movement on a slab is not the same as a 45 degree wall! 
3. Low skill set in hold-specific or angle-specific rests. 
4. Under developed technique in pacing for particular terrain angles. 

Psychological outcomes:

1. Not enough familiarity or exposure to specific holds or angles. Impacts confidence, anxiety levels and state management. 
2. Likelihood of lower onsight ability that fitness or technical ability should dictate. 
3. Problem solving skills for terrain type underdeveloped. Will affect onsight and redpoint grade. 

Physical:

1. Terrain-specific mobility/flexibility and also finger-hand-wrist-forearm ROM appropriate to grip type. 
2. Focusing volume of training on the wrong terrain type will under-develop the muscle groups specific (and limiting) to the terrain you do want to perform on. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Endurance training is a foundational element of performance preparation or training for almost every athlete, no matter what their discipline. Boulderers, sport climbers and trad climbers should all be completing phases of endurance training during their year. What is also common across these disciplines, is a consistent set of mistakes that climbers typically make when completing this type of training. 

In part one of this podcast, Tom Randall talks about the "Intensity" aspect of endurance work and how high, moderate and low intensity work affects the outcomes in technical, psychological and physical performance or adaptation. 

Low intensity endurance examples: Continuity or ARC training
Moderate intensity endurance examples: 50:50s or Polarised Continuity
High intensity endurance examples: 1 On 1 Off or 2 On 1 Off

Technical outcomes:

1. Speed and pace of climbing. 
2. Playing to your personal technical strengths, not working weaknesses

Psychological outcomes:

1. Good at trying when fresh, but not when fatigued
2. Low or high 'suffering' thresholds
3. Time spent working on 'flow' and 'highly efficient and relaxed' climbing

Physical:

1. Neurological e.g. de-recruitment training stimulus
2. Structural e.g. hypertrophy or vascularisation
3. Metabolic e.g. muscle enzyme activity

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this show, we have Zo Northcutt, who has a unique story. Like many of us, they are training and progressing towards their own climbing goals. Unlike most of us, however, they have a brain tumour.

Zo is one of those individuals whose resilience and strength positively affects others around them. They have dealt with pain and trauma, but they also find a way to find joy and share that with others despite some of the struggles. We discuss with Zo, their brain tumor - named Fred - the battle of staying active despite setbacks in life and also the work that they do in the LGBTQ+ community. Zo is a queer, gender fluid climber who’s also started a number of community initiatives in their local area.

You can find more of Zo on Instagram  via this link.

We discuss:

1. What their brain tumour, Fred, means for their life and climbing
2. How they get perspective and deals with setbacks
3. The role of their partners and housemates in support
4. Dealing with unknowns whilst working with coach Maddy
5. Changes in the climbing community diversity 
6. The biggest impacts to individuals and communities 
7. Online vs in-person behaviours and how we can all move forward in these areas

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Training Plan Adherence - what does the sports psychology say?! In this solo-podcast session by Tom, he takes you through the 3 areas of behaviour that will massively increase your chances of following through on your plans and reduce the chances that it will feel like a struggle. 

Keeping It Fun! 

• Add in your friends and/or family - rely on them for accountability and support and fun banter!
• Initially, do what you like, not what you struggle with. 
• Add in new skills to your training plan. Learning and the associated quick success feelings will make you feel great. 
• Always begin slow on a training plan initially. Plans are hard to follow anyway, don't make it even harder by putting crazy high training loads into the first mesocycle. 

Check Your Life Realities

• Convenience will help massively. Look at the aspects of time, location and conflicts of scheduling
• Start with a routine and with time it'll become a habit
• Prioritise your training. Do not try to do all of your training with you're tired at the end of the day, even if you're a busy person! 

Tracking

• Keep your data collection simple. Less that 5 metrics is a good place to start. 
• Put your tracking records where you can see them regularly and where you can't possible lose them! 
• Retest if you get strange results. 
• Remember that data is just a feedback. Aim to have as little emotional attachment to your scores whether they are positive or negative. Focus on trends and not individual data points. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

George Brill is an anthropologist currently working on his PhD in locomotor performance at Cambridge Uni and has previously worked with the Lattice coaching team sharing his findings from the studies of the tree climbing Batek Tribes of Malaysia and also his passion for free diving.

In today’s podcast, Tom and George explore some of the evolutionary history of tree climbing, what this has taught him about movement and also some of the parallels that free-diving may have with climbing performance. 

You can find more about George and his work at:

Instagram: George Brill
Website: Georgebrill.co.uk

Key concepts and terms covered:

• What is an anthropologist and how does this possibly relate to those of us interested in climbing?
• What is locomotor performance?
• What is the “elastic concept” of the body? 

Interview Topics:

1. The Elastic Concept of locomotor performance.
2. Batek Tribe studies and practicalities.
3. What can we learn from tree-climbers?
4. What are the similarities and difference between tree climbing and rock climbing?
5. What does an ideal tree climber looks like… age, size, weight, areas where they’re strong, flexible etc. 
6. Bergmann’s and Allen’s rules and relationship to climbing. 
7. Do the Batek tribe train for tree climbing? What’s valued most in tree climbing?
8. Risk and the culture surrounding it in the Batek. 
9. Freediving Mind-body connection: visualisation, using the link to our advantage

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode of the Lattice Podcast, host Josh Hadley sits down with renowned coach Ollie Torr, who has guided multiple Olympic athletes and collaborated with national teams worldwide. Together, they delve into the rigorous and strategic training required for Olympic climbers, revealing what distinguishes potential Olympic medallists from other elite international competitors—both in terms of personality traits and training approaches.

Key Takeaways:

• The key differences between international competition climbers and those poised to win Olympic medals
• The vital role of a strong support network, including parents, coaches, physiotherapists, and media managers, in an athlete’s journey to success
• The importance of physical training focused on building resilience, cultivating the ability to push limits, and embracing challenges
• How training cycles, including deliberate "training holes" and super compensation, push athletes to their peak performance
• The significance of dedication, sacrifice, and trust in the training process for achieving success at the highest level
• The role of genetics and body type in climbing performance, alongside the impact of lifestyle choices and the joy of training

Don’t miss this latest episode and elevate your climbing knowledge with expert insights from Josh Hadley and Ollie Torr.

And best of luck to all the GB athletes in Paris 2024! 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Lattice coaches Tom Randall and Maddy Cope sit down to discuss their own experiences and their work with clients on two topics, of which at least one, will resonate with almost all climbers out there.

The first is the fear of falling and the second deals the subject of goal setting. Whilst these may appear somewhat separate at first glance, Maddy and Tom have worked with both during their pro climbing careers and also help their clients improve on both fronts.

Fear of falling

The fear of falling can be particularly challenging for climbers who flip between cycles of training (indoors and on a bouldering wall a lot of the time) and performance on rock as they're very different in terms of the exposure or fall practice/experience that occurs. A trip to Spain mid-winter for performance can be problematic when a climber hasn't been on a rope for potentially a few months! 

• How long does it take to build confidence or reduce fear?
• Can it be "trained" before a trip?
• Are there any quick fixes?

Goal setting

Alongside this form of fear, is also some anxiety and stress that climbers feel around how to create and manage goals. Some goals are small, some are larger and much more extensive in the time they require, but almost all follow a similar process. Maddy and Tom discuss a number of strategies they use themselves and also with their clients and athletes. 

• Exploring "value" in goals.
• Having a strategy in preparing for setbacks towards your goals.
• How your goals match your climbing "way of thinking" or personal attitude towards growth or learning. 
• The concept of "holding lightly" to goals. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest video and podcast episode, Lattice coach Ella Russel is joined by Dr Emma Ross and Dr Bella Smith from 'The Well HQ' (Instagram - @thewell_hq).

Tune in for some brilliant discussion by Ella, Emma and Bella, as they address common questions about hormonal contraception for the female athlete.

Intro: (0:00)
Types of contraception: (2:40)
Personal experiences: (9:33)
Choosing a contraceptive: (20:27)
Tracking your period: (22:16)
Effect on training adaptation: (25:37)
Outro: (28:03)
Find out more about our Lattice Training Plans here: https://latticetraining.com/plans/

Download the Crimpd App:
App store - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimp...
Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this long form conversation Maddy and Joy talk about strength training during pregnancy and postpartum. They cover the changes that occur during pregnancy and how these impact climbing. 

This provides the foundations of understanding how we can get back to training and climbing after being pregnant. Coming from a strength and conditioning background Joy talks about weight training, choosing appropriate movements, and how to progress these. Not everyone is comfortable with doing weights, so some of the exercises discussed in this podcast may benefit from in-person sessions to learn how to do them. 

Joy provides great content in this area on her Instagram (@calliejoyblack) so if you are pregnant, have been pregnant, or are planning to become pregnant in the future check it out!

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest podcast episode, we had Tom Randall sit down with Mary Eden: AKA @tradprincess to talk about how she trains, prepares and performs for trad climbing. 

Mary has been working with Lattice and coach Jen Wood for a couple of years and has steadily progressed from her first 5.12 in the summer of 2018 to her first 5.13 in mid 2019. From there, she's gone on to complete multiple 5.13 ascents in various crack styles, including some of the best runs of "offwidth form" that have ever been witnessed in the US scene. 

Mary talks about her process for preparing physically, mentally and technically for her hardest sends - including general preparation for climbing trips/seasons. She also shares her experiences with how much sport climbing and bouldering has improved her trad climbing. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The world's first 9b? Maybe.... maybe not! Or is it just a really hard 9a+?! 

Will Bosi recently made the long-awaited 2nd ascent of Steve McClure's "Mutation" at Raventor which was first put up in 1998 - yes that's before Will was even born! On the back of an incredible run of form from Will - multiple 9a to 9b+ sport routes, and countless V12-V15 boulder sends this year, he's been on the form of his life. Yet despite this, Mutation took some serious effort to complete and pushed Will to really get everything just right. 

Tom Randall sat down with Will to chat through the whole story behind his ascent of Mutation. When he first started trying it, what the process involved and what he really thought about the grade. They dive into the nuances of vertical-style limestone crimping, how some things are just "hard to do" and what lies ahead for Will's next season. 

Don't forget to check out Will's YouTube channel 'William Bosi' for some awesome send footage from his brilliant season so far and more.... www.youtube.com/WilliamBosi

Special thanks to Birds of Birds, Will Bosi, Adidas and Five Ten and photo credits to Band of Birds. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

One of our clients - @austinclimbing was kind enough to sit down with us recently and talk us through his personal journey to climb his first V12 - God Is In The Details, Fort Leavenworth. You can hear the full analysis and breakdown of his time with coach @procterjonathan in his interview with @tompaulrandall over on our podcast. If you prefer written formats, there's also a full blog! 

Austin and Tom talk about:

• Training to be project specific
• Using AnCap to for long problems
• How variety of stimulus changes so much
• Making rest intentional 
• Fuelling for projecting on the day
• Controlling anxiety on the project

If you're a Fort Leavenworth fan, also go and check out Austin's youtube channel - he puts up loads of beta on there - especially for those shorter climbers! 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Does 10k Instagram followers make you pro climber? Are the new generation of pro's training differently? Do you live the everyday life of a pro?

All these things are discussed by Tom and Rhos as they unpack their own habits and the habits they see in other professional climbers. This Ask Lattice follows a topic we have been discussing on our own Instagram and delves into the main differences between pros and beginners. This is not to say any habit is right or wrong and simply changing behaviours does equate to a performance short cut! However we do find these topic fascinating and full of lessons we can takeaway while thinking critically about our own training habits.

Intro: (0:45)
Pro climber vs pro punter: (1:45)
What do we see high end climbers do with finger strength and the fingerboard: (3:45)
Elite level system board vs entry level: (6:45)
Elite level endurance sessions vs entry level: (9:45)
Beginners flexibility vs pros: (13:30)
A beginners training structure vs a pros: (16:55)
Lifestyle of beginner vs pro: (22:55)

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Tom and Rhos sit down to discuss their opinions and experience on some of the modern day ‘hot topics’ in climbing. Is your climbing negatively impacted by too much indoor climbing? How to complete a 'deload week'? Whose opinions should you be listening to? Tom and Rhos have very different backgrounds in climbing and their experiences are quite different, despite both being in the elite climbing category - this episode just goes to show there's more than one way to be a pro. 

Intro: (0:50)
Value of indoor vs outdoor climbing?: (3:20)
Would you prefer to be overachiever or underachiever?: (10:50)
Who’s opinion in climbing actually counts?: (11:55)
What can/should a Deload week look like?: (19:10)
Quality vs quantity: (23:00)

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest episode of Ask Lattice coach Ella is joined by Dr Nicky Keay, a medical doctor specialising in sports endocrinology, where they discuss the perimenopause.

They talk through when the peri-menopause might begin, key symptoms to look out for, how hormonal tests can help, and some tips and suggestions for symptom management. Having gone through the menopause, she also gives some insights into her personal journey and how she has managed symptoms, expectations, and her training. 

Please note that none of the content covered in this podcast is intended to provide specific medical, physical or mental health advice, and should not be relied upon as such. The views, information, or opinions expressed during the podcast are solely those of the individuals being interviewed and do not necessarily represent those of Lattice Training and its employees. We would strongly recommend that you seek advice from a medical professional if you have any questions or concerns arising from the issues or matters covered in this podcast.

Intro: (0.00) 
Defining perimenopause and menopause: (6.40) 
The influence of genetics: (9.08) 
Using hormonal tests to predict perimenopause?: (12.22) 
Symptoms of perimenopause: (19.35)
Cross over with symptoms of low energy availability: (22.08)
Personal symptoms and experience of perimenopause: (24.10)
Are PMS symptoms an indicator of severity of perimenopausal symptoms?: (32.48)
Hormone tests to diagnose perimenopause - Female Hormone Mapping with Forth With Life: (36.35)
Symptoms postmenopause?: (48.32)
Using HRT - risks & benefits: (49.30)
Non-hormonal alternatives: (56.45)
What about testosterone?: (1.01:35)
Vaginal estrogen & lubricants: (1.03:30)
Other self help remedies: (1.05:35)
Training & nutrition during perimenopause: (1.06:10)
Gut health & supplements: (1.09:10)
Personal approach to training during perimenopause (1.15:30)
Continuing with HRT postmenopause? (1.20)

Find out more about Dr Nicky Keay here: https://nickykeayfitness.com/

Find out more about the Female Hormone Mapping from Forth With Life here: https://www.forthwithlife.co.uk/female-hormone-mapping/

Further reading and resources: 

British Menopause Society: https://thebms.org.uk/

NICE menopause guidelines: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Rhoslyn Frugtniet is one of the newer coaches at Lattice Training and has a wealth of experience in climbing and training. Rhos has climbed to elite levels in multiple disciplines including an impressive flash of 8a+ sport. She is a GB climbing athlete and has coached junior athletes. In this episode we ask Rhos about how she trains, how she balanced performing in multiple climbing disciplines and how she flashed an 8a+!  

0:43 - Intro
1:18 - Flashing 8a+ 
5:00 - Inspirational Climbers
6:53 - Favourite and least favourite form of training 
9:43 - Being an all-rounder

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

This is the second of a two-part episode, Tom Randall sits down with Steve McClure, one of the UK's most accomplished rock climbers, to discuss what it means to continue pushing boundaries and achieving peak performance in your 50s. Steve’s remarkable career includes first ascents and repeats across bouldering, sport climbing, trad climbing, and big walling. He achieved his highest sport climbing grade at 46 years old, ‘Rainman’ 9b at Malham cove, defying expectations and setting an inspiring example for climbers everywhere.

Topics Covered:

• Life in Decades: Steve reflects on how his life has evolved from his 20s and 30s into his 40s and 50s, including changes in family, work, and climbing.
• Changes and Challenges: The main changes and challenges Steve has experienced as he’s gotten older.
• Climbing Performance: Which aspects of performance continue to improve with age and which tend to stagnate or decline.
• Training Focus: How Steve works on maintaining and improving his performance.
• Balance Shift: How his focus has shifted between bouldering, sport climbing, and trad climbing over the years.
• Performance Energy: Where Steve currently focuses most of his performance energy.
• Effective Training: What training methods are working for Steve now and how have they changed.
• Common Mistakes: Common errors ageing climbers make and how to avoid them.

As a thank you to our listeners, we have an exclusive offer: Get 15% off our Lattice Training Plans with the code PODCAST15.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Jonny Kydd is one of the newer coaches at Lattice Training and has a wealth of experience in climbing and training. Jonny has a BSc and MSc in Sports Science so he's got the theory covered! He's also an extremely accomplished boulderer having climbed V14, establishing many first ascents and is getting close on his multi-year V15 project. In this Ask Lattice we ask Jonny about what his formal education brought to his own climbing and coaching, how previous sports have influenced his progression and his top tips for projecting at your limit. Don't miss this one! 


0:19 - Intro 
0:44 -  What did Johnny learn from formal education applying to climbing 
3:09 - Core training every morning?
4:38 - Going from tennis to climbing 
7:59 - What would you tell your beginner self now 
12:19 - Boulder projecting tips

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

For anyone, climbing 5.14 is a big dream . It's a big grade, it's a big barrier and one that many feel is utterly out of their range. We sat Tom Randall down with US sport climber Anna Hazelnutt to talk about how she got to the mighty 5.14a (8b+) in just 8 years of climbing and why her recent successes are just the start.

In this latest podcast, we delve into Anna's projecting process, what her relationship with training has been and how she also pursues a variety of climbing disciplines over the years. As a graduate in neuroscience, her approach is often a very thoughtful one (plenty for us to all learn from!) and interestingly her path to high-end climbing started in earnest with quitting her 9-5 and moving abroad to climb...

You can find her YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGqObd717uKwGWf_KdNbXw
Her Instagram account is:
https://www.instagram.com/annahazelnutt/?hl=en

Buckle in for an interesting interview Latticers!

Photo cover credit: @austinkeithphoto

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Inspired by an overwhelming response on a recent Instagram series, we covered the '5 Biggest Mistakes' that climbers make in their training. We know lots of you had more questions from this series, so we had Coaches Josh and Ollie sit down on the 'Ask Lattice' sofa to go over these 5 points in more detail, to answer your questions! 

Intro - (00:39)
Mistake 1, Training fingerboarding or campusing at the end of the session - (1:22 )
Mistake 2, Not resting! - (5:12) 
Mistake 3 , Overworking! - (12:42)
Mistake 4, Training junk mileage in your specialisation! - (16:42)
Mistake 5, Climbing on the same angles of terrain - (22:52) 
Conclusion / Outro - (27:27)

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode of Ask Lattice Josh talks to Nutritionist, Ed Smith, all about his history of calisthenics training and how it has impacted his climbing performance. Ed had spent years in the gym strength training and playing many different sports before finding climbing. From then calisthenics became his main form of strength and conditioning. 

0:00 - Intro
3:39 - What is Calisthenics?
5:20 - Would you recommend calisthenics as a method for climbers?
6:40 - What does your strength training look like now?
9:50 - Do you need to be lifting heavy to climb well?
12:05 - Does learning to climb, when already very strong, hinder your progress?
20:05 - What would you say to someone that claims they are a non-responder to strength training?

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode of Ask Lattice Josh talks to Nutritionist, Ed Smith, all about what we can do as climbers to support our training and what some of the most common mistakes are. Ed is currently studying a PhD in nutrition, focused on the nutritional intake of climbers. So we are getting insights hot off the press. Ed also covers one of the most asked questions we get asked as coaches, "what's the best way to cut weight for my peak" and if this is even necessary. 

This conversation ran over as we continued to talk to Ed about his experience with calisthenic training. Ed is total beast at this form of training and has many years under his belt. Watch this space, we'll release this episode in our next Ask Lattice. 

0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Haribo or banana?
3:00 - What common habit would you recommend adding/changing for most climbers?
6:50 - What is the best/safest method to cut weight?
15:10 - What does a nutrition plan look like?
24:05 - Any interesting findings so far in your PhD?
32:52 - What can climbers do to better understand their diet? 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest Ask Lattice video and podcast, climbing coaches Ollie and Josh sit down on the sofa to discuss the upcoming events in Tokyo, breaking down the disciplines that will take place and what we might expect from the athletes competing, along with their predictions of how the athletes might perform.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest epsiode and podcast of Ask Lattice coach Maddy is joined on the sofa by Sam Webster, a Pilates teacher that specialises in pregnancy and post-natal pilates. They discuss the foundations of Pilates and how it can be used to reconnect to breathing and the core after having a baby. 

Sam talks about the different elements of the core that contribute to movement and how important it is to get the whole core working together in the process of returning to climbing. She gives some simple exercises that can be incorporated from early on, that can often be overlooked when we are wanting to get back to our main passion. 

Having recently had her first child, she gives some insight into her personal journey and how she has managed time, expectations, and reconnecting with her body.

0:00 - Intro
0:41 - The core concepts in Pilates and how these relate to postpartum
3:26 - The core and good function
4:53 - Breath and it's importance to recovery
9:10 - Timeline for Pilates Postpartum
12:30 - Small movements vs large movements
13:40 - Are there any "don'ts"?
17:29 - Goals and expectations

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this latest episode of 'Ask Lattice' Ollie Torr is joined by Jon Procter, one of our newer members of the coaching team at Lattice. 

Jon has almost an entirely different lifestyle to Ollie, in that he balances family life, a second job, early morning training and twice daily training. In this episode, they dive deeper into Jon's daily schedule and how he manages to balance it all, whilst staying psyched for outdoor climbing.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Slow climbers, dodgy beta, extending quick draws, rope dabbing... are you safe from this weeks controversial topics? In this latest Ask Lattice video and podcast Tom Randall and Ollie Torr sat down on the Ask Lattice sofa and had another rant, this week covering more topical "issues" from modern day sport and route climbing. 

Tune in for some more triggering content in part 2 of their sport rant!

1:36 - Speed of climbing
7:33 - Big grades for bad beta
10:11 - Is there a 'best' way to train endurance?
16:56 - Extending quick draws
20:22 - Sieging routes
23:51 - Rope dabbing

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

E-bikes, leaf blowers, portable fans, tall climbers - no-one is safe! In this latest Ask Lattice podcast Tom Randall and Ollie Torr sat down on the Ask Lattice sofa and had a bit of a rant, covering many topical "issues" from modern day bouldering. 

Tune in for some triggering content in part 1 of their bouldlering rant!

1:44 - Advanced technology at the crag (fans, ladders, e-bikes etc)
10:31 - Knee bars, heel hooks and niche techniques
18:03 - Climbing shoes
21:57 - Tall vs Short
27:15 - Outro

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today’s Lattice Podcast Highlight, host Tom Randall sits down with the legendary Steve McClure to discuss the secrets behind maintaining and performing into your 50s. Steve's storied career includes ground-breaking ascents and impressive repeats across all climbing disciplines, making him a unique authority on the subject.

Highlights from this discussion include:

• Emphasising the importance of aligning training with specific climbing goals for optimal results.
• Understanding and addressing weaknesses
• Importance of top-quality trainers
• The significance of dedicating undistracted time to climbing and how full-time commitment can lead to substantial improvements.

This 13min episode is just a highlight from a more in-depth conversation that delves into the evolution of climbing grades, training methods, and Steve’s unique approach to staying at the top of his game.

For the full discussion, tune in to the complete episode available on all major podcast platforms.

As a thank you to our listeners, get 15% off our Lattice Training Plans with the code PODCAST15.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

This one is a bit of a special one-off! Tom Randall sits down with the founder of the Nugget Climbing Podcast, Steven to discuss all things Lattice, training and performance. There's so many things that get discussed in this one, so we've put the highlight below with timestamps. We've also put all the links to Steven's podcast at the bottom as well. 

11:25 – Meeting Ollie Torr and testing his finger strength

14:15 – How Tom helped Ollie improve his endurance and efficiency, and a message about patience

18:19 – What Tom did to get strong

23:14 – Key TRX and rings exercises for the shoulders

37:59 – Finger training methodology, and off-season vs in-season training

45:50 – Is increasing training capacity (work capacity) a good goal?

49:20 – Hangboard protocol principles

1:06:35 – Balancing fun and hard work

1:14:42 – The Lattice YouTube channel

henuggetclimbing.com (My podcast website)

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/tom-randall (Our episode show notes)

thenuggetclimbing.com/top-lists (Top Episodes page for new listeners)

instagram.com/thenuggetclimbing (The Nugget on Instagram)

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Hi, it's Maddy from Lattice here.... I've uploaded an audio copy of a recent interview I did with UMI health - apologies in advance for the slightly rough sound quality, everyone was struggling with various mic qualities in all parts of the country! 

At Lattice we are passionate about furthering our knowledge when it comes to postpartum return to climbing (if you haven't already check out our postpartum survey which we've featured on our social media!).

 We have seen an increasing number of questions in our community group about pregnancy and return to climbing postpartum. Whilst looking into this area we came across UMI-Health, who are working hard to break down barriers when it comes to pelvic floor health, as well as provide accessible learning resources on the topic. After working my way through their resources I decided I would love to sit down and chat to them in detail about pelvic floor health as it relates to returning to exercise postpartum. Some of the main points we discuss... 

 The pelvic floor. What is it and why is it so important?

- Pregnancy. Why the pelvic floor is effected, how we can strengthen it, whether or not this impacts postpartum recovery.

- Postpartum. How different deliveries might effect initial postpartum recovery, when to start pelvic floor exercises, diastasis recti and some checkboxes to know whether you are on the right track or need to seek professional help.

- Getting back to exercise. Breastfeeding and training, monitoring progress and some extra cues to look out for during postpartum return to exercise, body image and returning to impact (think jumping down off a bouldering wall!)

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In our latest episode of 'Ask Lattice,' we are joined by physiotherapist James Walker from the 'Sheffield Climbing Clinic'. In this podcast, James and Tom tackle some of the more unusual injuries that aren't quite as common, but as experts, we've seen them in our climbers quite a lot over the years. 

Topics covered include collateral injuries, tenosynovitis, flexor tendon strains and lumbrical strains.

ALSO - don't forget that if you want to get access to Physio advice for the lowest possible cost, 52 weeks a year, we have Tim Pigott inside of the Lattice 365 group - he's also accompanied by our nutritionist and premium coaches, every single week of the year to offer you support! 

https://latticetraining.com/lattice-365/

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.